I would love to hear some feedback on this challenge that I am struggling with!! For those of you that sell shows... I realize there are lots of different scenarios and types of clients, but in general - do you show them a 'draft' and allow changes/edits, and how do you control this from getting out of hand? When I went into it (only a few short months ago) I thought I had it firmly in my head that "they hired me - I will deliver a product". But... guess what? First client came along and I was soooo anxious for them to like it, and I wanted to be sooo accommodating (order of photos, my choice of music tracks, intro/end slides, length of show, the right proportion and style of transitions, you know the drill...) that I took the extra time to upload to a private link, then wait for them to get back to me, then did edits - and more edits - ack!

I could give several examples. I know that the heart of the issue is that I need to trust in myself and my judgment, and also remember that if given the chance, a client will probably ALWAYS find something they would want changed - but I am NOT charging enough to cover all the extra time spent. At the same time, I would hate to hand the show over to them and have them say to family/friends/other business people etc that they arent totally happy and wished I'd have used more subtle music, or whatever the case may be.

ANyone have thoughts or experiences to share? How do you handle this, do you let them have a preview and do you limit edits or in general do they just love it and you don't have any more work to do?

Hi Sasha.. as you say, many will have different methods of working, but I do give my clients a first draft and ask for their opinion and any changes, but they have one chance to make changes. If after I've done the second (and final) draft, they want other changes, it would cost them more. I do tell my clients that I will send them a draft and for them to point out any changes they would like made and after that they will receive the finished product. I think if you are clear in the process, they respect that and look closer at the first draft. In saying that, I always take a fair while with them to try to get the feel and emotion they want to convey in the first place and make suggestions straight up as to what I was thinking with the photos and music they have provided. I hope this helps.. Cheers Livonne

Sasha . . . I always work with my clients because I want them to be happy with their slide show. Like you have done . . . I post my draft on the Photodex file sharing web site and send them the link so they can watch it and tell me what changes need to be made. I make the changes and re-post the slide show and send them the new link and then make any more adjustments that are required.

I have found that many times I cannot "see the forest from the trees" because I am so closely involved in the production process so it really does take an outside pair of eyes to see the obvious and sometimes not so obvious error(s) and that's where the collaboration with the client comes in. Granted . . . this takes time and effort but the client is always happy with the final result because they were closely involved in the creation process.

Your work flow may be a little different but hopefully your end result will be the same

Thank you both for excellent insight - and Dan, I can't believe this but I have never considered the Photodex site - I have been using Vimeo (and then password-protecting the client files) - I will have to go now and check out the Photodex option Thank you - sometimes what's right under our noses is amazing!!